RE: My third OS-Event and Stammtisch in Köln?

Sat Jan 15 10:13:10 PST 2005

Carlos -- Working too hard are you? I know the feeling, but when I felt that
way myself it usually turned out that I was working too hard trying to make
things right, whatever "right" might mean. In your case, it sounded like you
had to come up with "results." And not only results -- but results of a
special sort. Here are a few suggestions that might make your life easier.

First off -- make sure you spend time with the sponsor(s) helping them to
understand that while people in Open Space always produce results, it
sometimes turns out that those results were not quite what people expected.
I once did an Open Space for a company about its future. After 3 hours, it
was clear to everybody that the company, as it was then constituted, did not
have a future. And so by the middle of the afternoon it was decided by
everybody (with the exception of the President) to dissolve the business.
That was a result which nobody expected -- but it was a result and a useful
one. Nobody was angry -- they just wanted to do something else. And they
did. After they had dissolved that business they all went to the Bar where
they created two new businesses. But, as you can imagine, had I tried to
achieve the original "result" first of all it would not have happened, and
even if it did, nobody would have their hearts in it. And what good is a
business you don't care about? Not much!

My second suggestion is to pay a lot of attention before the OS to The
Question. Make sure it is real, powerful, big enough so people have plenty
of room to think and create -- but focused enough so they know what they are
doing. Equally important, make sure that the people who come are the ones
who care to come -- and not just folks who think they should come or (worse)
were told to come. And if nobody comes, that may be a disappointment but it
is very useful information. Point is nobody cares -- and if nobody cares,
there is not much point in spending a lot of energy on that subject.

The question is really the magnet that sets everything in motion, and when
the question is powerful and the space is genuinely open (no hidden
answers), you will find that there is not too much that you really have to
do. It pretty much happens by itself. You might find it interesting to look
over the paper that I wrote on "Nichtwissen" -- The Question. Click on

http://www.openspaceworld.com/Opening%20Space%20for%20The%20Question.htm

Have to try to get somebody to read my paper :-) I had fun writing it -- and
the following would seem to be pertinent:

"The magnetism of the question draws people in and the awesomeness of the
open space keeps them at a distance. The atmosphere can be fairly described
as charged, as an electrical field is charged. The empty open space is
negative – which is not to say bad or nasty, but negative in the sense that
an electrical field has a negative pole as well as a positive one.
Metaphorically (and perhaps in reality) the open space is the grounding
point, a huge void summoning the positive flash of energy and insight from
the people on the perimeter. This, I believe, is the power of The Question.
It is Nichtwissen made manifest. And except for The Question in everybody’s
mind, not a word has been spoken. But the field in which knowledge may grow
has been prepared."

Anyhow -- if you will let go of your attachment to some specific results,
make sure that the people who come are those who care -- and tend to the
question, I think you will find that everything else pretty much takes care
of itself. Who knows -- you will probably find time for a nap. I always do.

Harrison

Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland   20845
Phone 301-365-2093

Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of
NLP-Praxis-Koeln
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 3:10 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: My third OS-Event and Stammtisch in Köln?

Hello OS-List,

i have done my third OS-Event and it was interesting and also hard-working
for me. The Motto was: Learning, Working, Gender and Diversity-What`s the
threat?.

Why, it was hard working for me?
In my cognition was the client bringing themes, with orientation on results.
I said bring your heart-themes that`s your room. Use it. One chance, that
comes not every day with this people. But the clients wanted to have
results. Their was fear not to have good results. And so the client takes a
bit the leadership for responsability, like working with childrens. The
participants, weren`t so active and the client wanted to show their promotor
and the government results, that`s have an authorization for their work. So
they don`t want to have "bad results". After Half-Time comes an guy from
government and i should explain him OS in 2 sentences. He said to me, that
is not regular way, he his acustomated to give order and to get order. He
sit their with sceptic face and was after break never seen. It was
hard-working to stimulate and activate the participants and in the end,
there was a group of energy-flowing and this people like OS. Most of the
participants were not accustomated to take responsability or to bring up
their essentiel themes. Also it was hard to be in a building, where so much
people are working during the event. I asked why the people, most of them
strangers, don`t participate. Also the housekeepers and secretaires. No
answer.

I think sometimes the participants need more introduction more practise to
get their thems clear. My opinion is, that we need self-organisation to
create new networks and that we can learn it by practising. So my question.
I would like to come to a   Stammtisch, but Berlin is a bit far for me. Is
their some in near of Cologne/Köln? Or who is interested on making one?

Carlos from Köln

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